Iceland’s ailing economy isn’t going to keep it from making environmental strides – the city of Keflavik will soon be receiving 37 prefabricated components in order to complete the world’s first zero-carbon data center. The project, commissioned by UK start-up Verne Global[1] (a data hosting company), will comprise 5,400 sq ft and will be powered completely by geothermal [2]and hydroelectric [3]power.

The facility will be constructed by Colt[4], a telecoms and IT group, and it will be composed of glass and steel climate-controlled boxes that will be assembled inside a shell building. The building will run solely on geothermal and hydroelectric power – like many other structures in Iceland – ensuring zero-carbon operations. The Icelandic air will also help reduce the data center[5]‘s energy use by cooling the servers prevent overheating. Because all of the center’s parts will be prefabricated[6], the building is expected to be completed in just 4 – compare that with the average 2 year design/build process of a data center.

The project was commissioned by the UK start-up Verne Global – a data hosting company that plans to use Iceland’s cheap power to undercut rival companies. The new data center will be connected to both the US and Europe via multiple high-speed cables. The carbon-neutral center sets a great precedent and shows how sustainable building techniques can positively impact a firm’s bottom line.

Colt initially created the prefab components for its own use, but it started offering to build modular data centers last year when a number of their clients began to express interest in the rapid, low-impact design. So far they have about 10 clients who have commissioned facilities co-located with the company’s own centers.